A Extra-Fine 149, Aurora Black Ink, And A Third Seahorse

[fpupulin]

So, here I am another time, with another Seahorse. This is a Virgilian one. "Fit sonitus spumante salo" ("There's a roar from the foaming sea") is a quote from the episode of Laocoön's death in the Aeneid (Book II, line 209).

 

I drew the Seahorse with a single Montblanc 149 from 1994, fitted with a juicy EF nib. The pen was filled with Aurora Black ink, an extraordinarily wet ink. To do the entire drawing I used almost two fills of my 149. The paper is a medium strong (140 gr) Fabriano Fabria, ivory color, with the grain direction parallel to the short side of the leaf.

 

I made some statistics on this drawing. In the darker areas, any 10 square centimetres have some 450 vertical pen strokes, plus 200-250 finer diagonal strokes. It took 4 to 5 minutes of uninterrupted work to fill 10 square centimetres. The darker areas of the drawing grossly occupy 800 square cm, which required some 55,000 pen strokes. The drawing of the Seahorse and the pedestal may have required some 30,000 strokes more.

 

I spent two entire weekends and the late afternoon hours of an entire week to complete it.

 

It is a pleasure to use the large nib of the Meisterstück 149 with the Aurora ink. The nib simply seems to float on the dry paper. As the flow is very generous, I used the back of the nib (the upper part) to make the finest of the strokes, and the underside to do the broadest lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the fellows interested in seeing the previous Seahorses, they are here and here.

[Tas]

http://www.taskyprianou.com/me_clapping.jpg

STUNNING!!!

Thank you soooo much for sharing.

Wow. . .

[KJY]

 

The details!

I can almost see live in the eye of the Seahorse.

 

Thanks for sharing the additional details to make the drawing.

[Pelikan Vera]

Amazing detail. Thanks you for an exceptional drawing.

[fountainpende]

wow !!!!!!!!!!

[MBFan]

Sorry, double post.

Edited January 28, 2014 by MBFan

[MBFan]

Incredible

 

May I ask; why seahorses?

[Blade Runner]

Wonderful. Your art is always a pleasure. Is there a connection with Omega watches?

[bernardo]

Amazing!

 

Are you a pro or do you do it just for fun?

 

Thanks for posting!

[Prvt. Toter]

Wow, thanks for posting. I will someday own a MB, but not now.. to many other expenses to justify... I do have a growing stockpile of refurbished pens that will contribute though. I must admit though that your work with the EF nib is making me rethink my concept of what I want in a 149... Very nice work.

[fpupulin]

Tas, KJY, Pelikan Vera, fountainpende: thank you so much for your kind words. Sharing with people like you, guys, charmed by the power of pens as I am, is the main reason for me to post here.

[fpupulin]

MBFan, Blade Runner: yes, the Seahorse is a tribute to Omega watches and to their Seamaster line, of which the seahorse is the symbol. The story of my association with this watch brand is long. My father received an automatic Seamaster from my mother as a gift for his 40th birthday. When still a boy, I was really admired at my father's watch. Then, when I was in my twenties, my grandmother gifted to me an Omega "moon watch". I liked it every bit. It was inundated by sea water some fifteen years later, and the salted rust corroded it. Other fifteen years elapsed before my wife gifted me a new Omega Seamaster, a beautiful Aqua Terra chronograph, with unbelievable blue hands. I drew the first Seahorse to celebrate the gift and my luck to have such a special wife, and to commit my pens to a larger work. The other Seahorses are just an excise to continue celebrating watches and pens...

[fpupulin]

bernardo: I am just joking, spending good days at the desk with my pens and the other stuff I love.

[Anirban4u]

Respects

[yus2001fr]

Amazing !

[Sinistral1]

Un-be-liev-able! I can smell the sea air and hear the neighing over the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks on the shore. Closing my eyes, I draw in a deep breath and slowly exhale, once again at the edge of heaven.

 

THANK YOU!

[ebearius]

Hmmmm.....I have one of those pens. I wonder why mine doesn't do that...??? :-)

[ashnicholls]

That is amazing!

[bernardo]

bernardo: I am just joking, spending good days at the desk with my pens and the other stuff I love.

 

[christianch]

This is absolutely stunning ! Thanks a lot for sharing this work of art !